Israel
Israel (/ˈɪzriəl, -reɪəl/; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‬; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل‎), officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip12 to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.613 Israel's economy and technology center is Tel Aviv,14 while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state's sovereignty over Jerusalem is not recognised internationally.15161718192 The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age.2021 The Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel around 720 BCE.22 Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces.2324 The successful Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Jewish kingdom in 110 BCE,25 which came to an end in 63 BCE when the Hasmonean kingdom became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE, and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea.26 Judea lasted as a Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction,25 expulsion of Jewish population2527 and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palaestina.28 Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries. In the 7th century the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim control until the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187. The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt extended its control over the Levant in the 13th century until its defeat by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 19th century, national awakening among Jews led to the establishment of the Zionist movement in the diaspora followed by waves of immigration to Ottoman and later British Palestine. In 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem.29 The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and rejected by Arab leaders.303132 The following year, the Jewish Agency declared the independence of the State of Israel, and the subsequent 1948 Arab–Israeli War saw Israel's establishment over most of the former Mandate territory, while the West Bank and Gaza were held by neighboring Arab states.33 Israel has since fought several wars with Arab countries,34 and it has since 1967 occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip (still considered occupied after 2005 disengagement, although some legal experts, dispute this claim).3536373 It extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank.38394041 Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is the world's longest military occupation in modern times.343 Efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have been signed. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state.44 Israel is a representative democracy45 with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage.4647 The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature. Israel is a developed country and an OECD member,48 with the 33rd-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2017. The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.49 Israel has the highest standard of living in the Middle East,11 and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.50 Category:Locations